Friday, March 14, 2008

Beer update -- First time mistake?

This is the first time we're making beer, and not sure if we're doing it right, but we're forging ahead anyway. .

On February 14, I got equipment and ingredients to make beer. First up, a Dortmunder beer. This was Husband's birthday present.

On February 21, while my parents were still here, we boiled up the wort and put it in the bucket with the yeast, for the first step. We didn't see much bubbles coming up but let it sit for a while anyway.

On February 26 I got 48 bottles from Winecraft and they said that I should transfer the beer from the bucket to a glass carboy, to let the sediment settle some more. When clear, then I should siphon from the carboy into the bottling bucket with the sugar, then let it sit about 21 days and finally bottle up the beer.

Sometime the week of Feb 26, before we went to Miami at the end of February, I transferred the beer from the bucket to a glass carboy and it's been sitting there for a few weeks now.

I think this weekend we'll move it back from the carboy to the bottling bucket with the sugar and see how it goes.

We're not sure if we're doing this right because we haven't seen much bubbling and carbonation throughout the process. I think at one point we could have added more yeast to make it happen, but we didn't.

But it's the first time we're making beer, and mistakes are bound to happen. Worst case scenario, it's totally flat and undrinkable for humans. Therefore we would pour it out into the compost heap, which would probably love it.